arXiv subjects

Laerte Sodre Jr.

Publications and source records attributed to Laerte Sodre Jr..

13 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

J-PAS and PFS surveys in the era of dark energy and neutrino mass measurements

Fisher-matrix forecasts are presented for the cosmological surveys of the Javalambre Physics of the Accelerating Universe Astrophysical Survey (J-PAS) and the Subaru Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS). The wide, low-redshift coverage of J-PAS and the high-density, high-redshift mapping of PFS are strongly complementary: combining the two reduces marginalized uncertainties on all primary parameters compared with either survey individually. Adding the joint J-PAS+PFS data to next-generation CMB measurements from the Simons Observatory (SO) and \textsc{LiteBird} yields an expected precision of $σ(\sum m_ν)=0.017\,$eV in the $Λ$CDM$+\sum m_ν+N_{\rm eff}$ framework, sufficient to disfavour the inverted neutrino hierarchy at $2.34\,σ$ if the true mass sum equals the normal-ordering minimum. Motivated by recent DESI results, we also forecast within a $w_0w_a$CDM$+\sum m_ν+N_{\rm eff}$ cosmology, adopting the DESI\,DR2 best-fit values ($w_0=-0.758$, $w_a=-0.82$) as fiducial. The combination CMB+J-PAS+PFS then delivers $σ(w_0)=0.044$ and $σ(w_a)=0.18$, corresponding to a $5.1\,σ$ preference for a time-varying dark-energy equation of state. These findings show that J-PAS and PFS, especially when coupled with Stage-IV CMB observations, will provide competitive tests of neutrino physics and the dynamics of cosmic acceleration.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

The miniJPAS Survey: Detection of double-core Lyα morphology of two high-redshift (z>3) QSOs

The Ly$α$ emission is an important tracer of neutral gas in a circum-galactic medium (CGM) around high-z QSOs. The origin of Lya emission around QSOs is still under debate which has significant implications for galaxy formation and evolution. In this paper, we study Ly$α$ nebulae around two high redshift QSOs, SDSS J141935.58+525710.7 at $z=3.218$ (hereafter QSO1) and SDSS J141813.40+525240.4 at $z=3.287$ (hereafter QSO2), from the miniJPAS survey within the AEGIS field. Using the contiguous narrow-band (NB) images from the miniJPAS survey and SDSS spectra, we analyzed their morphology, nature, and origin. We report the serendipitous detection of double-core Ly\al\ morphology around two QSOs which is rarely seen among other QSOs. The separations of the two Ly\al~cores are 11.07 $\pm$ 2.26 kpcs (1.47 $\pm$ 0.3$^{\prime\prime}$) and 9.73 $\pm$ 1.55 kpcs (1.31 $\pm$ 0.21$^{\prime\prime}$) with Ly$α$~line luminosities of $\sim$ 3.35 $\times 10^{44}$ erg s $^{-1} $ and $\sim$ 6.99 $\times$ 10$^{44}$ erg s $^{-1}$ for QSO1 and QSO2, respectively. The miniJPAS NB images show evidence of extended Ly$α$ and CIV morphology for both QSOs and extended HeII morphology for QSO1. These two QSOs may be potential candidates for the new enormous Lyman alpha nebula (ELAN) found from the miniJPAS survey due to their extended morphology in the shallow depth and relatively high Ly$α$ luminosities. We suggest that galactic outflows are the major powering mechanism for the double-core Ly$α$ morphology. Considering the relatively shallow exposures of miniJPAS, the objects found here could be the tip of the iceberg of a promising number of such objects that will be uncovered in the upcoming full J-PAS survey and deep IFU observations with 8-10m telescopes will be essential for constraining the underlying physical mechanism that is responsible for the double-cored morphology.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) for the Subaru Telescope: Overview, recent progress, and future perspectives

PFS (Prime Focus Spectrograph), a next generation facility instrument on the 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope, is a very wide-field, massively multiplexed, optical and near-infrared spectrograph. Exploiting the Subaru prime focus, 2394 reconfigurable fibers will be distributed over the 1.3 deg field of view. The spectrograph has been designed with 3 arms of blue, red, and near-infrared cameras to simultaneously observe spectra from 380nm to 1260nm in one exposure at a resolution of ~1.6-2.7A. An international collaboration is developing this instrument under the initiative of Kavli IPMU. The project is now going into the construction phase aiming at undertaking system integration in 2017-2018 and subsequently carrying out engineering operations in 2018-2019. This article gives an overview of the instrument, current project status and future paths forward.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2010

New measurements of radial velocities in clusters of galaxies -- V

As a part of our galaxy-cluster redshift survey, we present a set of 80 new velocities in the 4 clusters Abell 376, Abell 970, Abell 1356, and Abell 2244, obtained at Haute-Provence observatory. This set now completes our previous analysis, especially for the first two clusters. Data on individual galaxies are presented, and we discuss some cluster properties. For A376, we obtained an improved mean redshift = 0.047503$ with a velocity dispersion of σ_V = 860 km/s. For A970, we have = 0.058747 with σ_V = 881 km/s. We show that the A1356 cluster is not a member of the "Leo-Virgo" supercluster at a mean redshift = 0.112 and should be considered just as a foreground group of galaxies at = 0.0689, as well as A1435 at = 0.062. We obtain = 0.099623 for A2244 with σ_V = 965 km/s. The relative proximity of clusters A2244 and A2245 ( = 0.0873816, σ_V = 992 km/s) suggests that these could be members of a supercluster that would include A2249; however, from X-ray data there is no indication of interaction between A2244 and A2245.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2006

Semi-empirical analysis of Sloan Digital Sky Survey galaxies: IV. A nature via nurture scenario for galaxy evolution

We investigate the environmental dependence of stellar population properties of galaxies in the local universe. Physical quantities related to the stellar content of galaxies are derived from a spectral synthesis method applied to a volume-limited sample containing more than 60 thousand galaxies extracted from the DR4 of the SDSS. Mean stellar ages, mean stellar metallicities and stellar masses are obtained from this method and used to characterise the stellar populations of galaxies. The environment is defined by the projected local galaxy density estimated from a nearest neighbour approach. We recover the star formation--density relation in terms of the mean light-weighted stellar age, which is strongly correlated with star formation parameters derived from \Ha. We find that the age--density relation is distinct when we divide galaxies according to luminosity or stellar mass. The relation is remarkable for galaxies in all bins of luminosity. On the other hand, only for an intermediate stellar mass interval (associated to a transition in galaxy properties) the relation shows a change in galaxy properties with environment. Such distinct behaviours are associated to the large stellar masses of galaxies with the same luminosity in high-density environments. In addition, the well known star formation--density relation results from the prevalence of massive systems in high-density environments, independently of galaxy luminosity, with the additional observed downsizing in galaxy formation, in which the star formation is shifted from massive galaxies at early times to low-mass galaxies as the universe evolves. Our results support that a natural path for galaxy evolution proceeds via a nurture way, in the sense that galaxy evolution is accelerated in denser environments, that took place mainly at high-redshifts.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

Anomalies in the low CMB multipoles and extended foregrounds

We discuss how an extended foreground of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) can account for the anomalies in the low multipoles of the CMB anisotropies. The distortion needed to account for the anomalies is consistent with a cold spot with the spatial geometry of the Local Supercluster (LSC) and a temperature quadrupole of order DeltaT_2^2 ~ 50 microK^2. If this hypothetic foreground is subtracted from the CMB data, the amplitude of the quadrupole (l=2) is substantially increased, and the statistically improbable alignment of the quadrupole with the octopole (l=3) is substantially weakened, increasing dramatically the likelihood of the "cleaned" maps. By placing the foreground on random locations and then computing the likelihood of the cleaned maps we can estimate the most likely place for this foreground. Although the 1-year WMAP data clearly points the location of this hypothetical foreground to the LSC or its specular image (i.e., the vicinity of the poles of the cosmic dipole axis), the three-year data seems to point to these locations as well as the north ecliptic pole. We show that this is consistent with the symmetries of the cosmic quadrupole. We also discuss a possible mechanism that could have generated this foreground: the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect caused by hot electrons in the LSC. We argue that the temperature and density of the hot gas which are necessary to generate such an effect, though in the upper end of the expected range of values, are marginally consistent with present observations of the X-ray background of spectral distortions of the CMB.

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arXiv2006

Semi-empirical analysis of Sloan Digital Sky Survey galaxies: II. The bimodality of the galaxy population revisited

We revisit the bimodal distribution of the galaxy population commonly seen in the local universe. Here we address the bimodality observed in galaxy properties in terms of spectral synthesis products, such as mean stellar ages and stellar masses, derived from the application of this powerful method to a volume-limited sample, with magnitude limit cutoff M_r = -20.5, containing about 50 thousand luminous galaxies from the SDSS Data Release 2. In addition, galaxies are classified according to their emission line properties in three distinct spectral classes: star-forming galaxies, with young stellar populations; passive galaxies, dominated by old stellar populations; and, hosts of active nuclei, which comprise a mix of young and old stellar populations. We show that the extremes of the distribution of some galaxy properties, essentially galaxy colours, 4000 A break index, and mean stellar ages, are associated to star-forming galaxies at one side, and passive galaxies at another. We find that the mean light-weighted stellar age of galaxies is the direct responsible for the bimodality seen in the galaxy population. The stellar mass, in this view, has an additional role since most of the star-forming galaxies present in the local universe are low-mass galaxies. Our results also give support to the existence of a 'downsizing' in galaxy formation, where massive galaxies seen nowadays have stellar populations formed at early times.

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arXiv2006

The K luminosity-metallicity relation for dwarf galaxies and the tidal dwarf galaxies in the tails of HCG 31

We determine a K-band luminosity-metallicity (K-Z) relation for dwarf irregular galaxies, over a large range of magnitudes, -20.5 < M_K < -13.5, using a combination of K photometry from either the 2-micron all sky survey (2MASS) or the recent study of Vadivescu er al. (2005), and metallicities derived mainly with the T_e method, from several different studies. We then use this newly-derived relation, together with published K_s photometry and our new spectra of objects in the field of HCG 31 to discuss the nature of the possible tidal dwarf galaxies of this group. We catalogue a new member of HCG 31, namely "R", situated ~40 kpc north of the group center, composed by a ring of H alpha knots which coincides with a peak in HI. This object is a deviant point in the K-Z relation (it has too high metallicity for its luminosity) and its projected distance to the parent galaxy and large gas reservoir makes it one of the most promising tidal dwarf galaxy candidates of HCG 31, together with object F. The subsystems A1, E, F, H and R all have metallicities similar to that of the galaxies A+C and B, result that is expected in a scenario where those were formed from material expelled from the central galaxies of HCG 31. While objects A1, E and H will most probably fall back onto their progenitors, F and R may survive as tidal dwarf galaxies. We find that two galaxies of HCG 31, G and Q, have A+em spectral signatures, and are probably evolving toward a post-starburst phase.

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arXiv2002

The Environmental Dependence of Star Formation in the Nearby Universe

We have investigated how the incidence of star-forming galaxies varies with the environment using a volume-limited sample of nearby galaxy spectra extracted from the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey. The environment is characterized by the local number density of galaxies, corrected for sample incompleteness and border effects. Using the equivalent widths of [O II]$λ$3727 and H$δ$ we discriminate the star-forming galaxies in two classes, starbursts and ordinary star-forming galaxies, and evaluate their properties as a function of the local density. We show that the fraction of ordinary star-forming galaxies decreases regularly with increasing density, indicating that star formation is sensitive to the environment for all range of densities present in the sample. The fraction of starbursts is approximately independent of the density and, consequently, the fraction of starbursts relative to star-forming galaxies increases with local density. This suggests that a mechanism that acts everywhere, like tidal interactions, is the responsible for triggering starbursts. We also show that while the mean EW(H$α$) of ordinary star-forming galaxies is progressively reduced as density increases, for starbursts it suffers a strong decrease at densities corresponding to scales of $ρ^{-1/3} \sim 2.5 ~h^{-1}$ Mpc. A visual inspection of starburst images in the {\it Digital Sky Survey} reveals that this corresponds to a change in the morphology of starburst galaxies, from mainly apparently normal spirals and galaxies with apparently compact morphologies at low densities, to tidally distorted spirals at high densities.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2001

Global Emission Line Trends in Spiral Galaxies: The Reddening and Metallicity Sequences

We have explored the emission line trends in the integrated spectra of normal spiral galaxies of the Nearby Field Galaxy Survey, in order to investigate the relationships between dust extinction, metallicity and some macroscopic properties of spiral galaxies. We found a very strong correlation between the Hbeta and Halpha equivalent widths, implying that the difference between the extinction of the stellar and the nebular light depends only on the intrinsic colours of the galaxies, being larger for redder galaxies. The usual metallicity indicator for giant HII regions ([OIII]4959,5007 + [OII]3726,3729)/ Hbeta is not appropriate for integrated spectra of spiral galaxies, probably due to metallicity gradients. Much better qualitative metallicity indicators are found to be [NII]6584/[OII]3726,3729 and [NII]6584/Halpha, the latter having the advantage of being independent of reddening and being applicable also for galaxies with weak emission lines. With these indicators, we find that the nebular extinction as derived from the Balmer decrement strongly correlates with the effective metallicity of the emission line regions. The overall metallicity of the emission line regions is much better correlated with galaxy colours than with morphological types. A Principal Component Analysis on a 7-D parameter space showed that the variance is produced, in first place, by the metallicity and parameters linked to the stellar populations, and, in second place, by the surface brightness, which is linked to the dynamical history of the galaxies. The absolute magnitude, related to the mass of the galaxy, comes only in the third place.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1999

The Emission Line Sequence of Normal Spiral Galaxies

We have analyzed the emission line properties in the integrated spectra of 15 normal spiral galaxies. We show that very clear trends appear when plotting relevant emission line ratios or equivalent widths as a function of galaxy spectral types, obtained with a Principal Component Analysis of the continua and absorption features of spectra. The equivalent widths of all the lines analyzed correlate extremely well with spectral types, implying that each of them can be considered a good indicator of the spectral type in normal galaxies. The position of most galaxies of our sample in classical emission line diagnostic diagrams follows that of individual giant HII regions in spiral galaxies, but for the earliest type galaxies, the emission line pattern resembles more that of LINERs. Therefore, the direct interpretation of equivalent widths in terms of star formation rates would be misleading in such cases. The observed trends in the emission line ratios as a function of galaxy spectral type suggest a decrease of O/H, a decrease of N/O, an increase of the average effective temperature or ionization parameter, and a decrease of the effective internal extinction of galaxies with increasing (early to late) spectral type.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1996

Global regularities in integrated galaxy spectra

We have investigated some statistical properties of integrated spectra of galaxies from Kennicutt (1992a) spectrophotometric atlas. The input for the analysis are galaxy spectra sampled in 1300 bins between 3750 Å~ and 6500 Å. We make use of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to analyse the 1300-dimensional space spanned by the spectra. Their projection onto the plane defined by the first two principal components, the principal plane, shows that normal galaxies are in a quasi-linear sequence that we call spectral sequence. We show that the spectral sequence is closely related to the Hubble morphological sequence. These results are robust in the sense that the reality of the spectral sequence does not depend on data normalization. The existence of this sequence suggests that a single parameter may describe the spectrum of normal galaxies. We have investigated this hypothesis with Bruzual & Charlot (1995) models of spectral evolution. We show that, for single age models (15 Gyr), the spectral sequence can be parametrized by the characteristic star formation time-scales of the different morphological types. By examining the projection of evolutionary tracks of normal galaxies onto the principal plane, we verify that the spectral sequence is also an evolutive sequence, with galaxy spectra evolving from later to earlier spectral types. Considering the close correspondence between the spectral and morphological sequences, this lead us to speculate that galaxies may evolve morphologically along the Hubble sequence, from Sm/Im to E.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1994

Spectral Classification of Galaxies

We investigate the integrated spectra of a sample of 24 normal galaxies. A principal component analysis suggests that most of the variance present in the spectra is due to the differences in morphology of the galaxies in the sample. We show that spectroscopic parameters extracted from the spectra, like the amplitude of the 4000 Å~ break or of the CN band, correlate well with Hubble types and are useful for quantitative classification.

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